For CA Assembly District 56, incumbent Eduardo Garcia to face GOP challenger Jeff Gonzalez in November

Palm Springs residents Michael Kape and Paula Johnson talk with the Desert Sun about the long and 'complicated' ballot as well as the controversial vacation rental ordinance, Measure C.
Joseph Hong, The Desert Sun

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Voters in Assembly District 56 will be able to choose between three candidates on June 5, 2018: Jeff Gonzalez, Eduardo Garcia and Jonathan Reiss (left to right)(Photo11: The Desert Sun)Buy Photo

Early returns Tuesday night showed incumbent Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia and his Republican challenger Jeff Gonzalez maintaining easy leads in the State Assembly District 56 primary, paving their way to a showdown in the November general election.

The early numbers showed Garcia leading with just over 57 percent of the vote, followed by Gonzalez with nearly 28 percent of the vote and Jonathan Reiss trailing with about 15 percent of the vote.

In comparison to some of the other local and state-level races this year, the race for Assembly District 56 has been fairly quiet.

The district encompasses urban communities like Indio and Cathedral City as well as rural areas around the Salton Sea and the U.S.-Mexico border.

Incumbent Democrat Eduardo Garcia was elected to the contested office in 2014, and currently serves as the chair of the California State Assembly's Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. In this role, Garcia has made the restoration of the Salton Sea, access to clean drinking water for rural farm working communities and environmental preservation some of his profile topics.

Garcia faced two Republican opponents, Jeff Gonzalez and Jonathan Reiss on Tuesday's ballot. The district has reliably voted for Democrats in the past three elections, and in 2016, Garcia ran unopposed. In 2014, he took over the office from his Democratic predecessor, current Riverside County Supervisor Manuel "Manny" Perez, by beating his Republican opponent Charles Bennett Jr. by 17%.

Opponent Jeff Gonzalez, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and pastor, officially announced his campaign in January. Gonzalez, who was born in New Jersey and raised in Southern California is running on an anti-tax platform.

"Californian taxpayers are overtaxed. We need to cut wasteful programs from the state budget and utilize our resources more efficiently," Gonzalez told The Desert Sun in response to a candidate questionnaire.

His campaign promises include repealing SB 1, which imposed additional taxes on gas and increased car registration fees to be used for infrastructure improvements, and working to abolish the cap-and-trade program.

Jonathan Reiss, who also hails from the East Coast and has been living in the district since 1999, is also running on a fiscally conservative platform, and expressed disapproval of the state's approach towards federal immigration enforcement.

"Federal law supersedes State and Local law," Reiss told The Desert Sun in response to a candidate questionnaire item on sanctuary policies. "Achieving healthy cooperation between all levels of governmental function would be beneficial for all."

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Reiss received a degree in government and international relations from Dartmouth College, and is the founder and owner of media production company Kajon Media in Palm Desert. Reiss and his wife reside in Bermuda Dunes.